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Guide: Virtual Wii (Wii Mode) Softmod for Wii U

Please be aware that modding your system voids the warranty and can possibly damage your system.
We are Not responsible for anything that happens to your Wii U as a result of following this guide.

VWii Softmod Guide Update History

- This guide is a work in progress. As time goes on and we learn more about the vWii, this guide will be updated accordingly.
- Here you will find a detailed list of things that are added/removed between revisions of this guide. 1/2/2016

Added d2x cIOS Installer 2.2 MOD to Modpack. This gives compatibility with the Motion Plus (TR) remotes, as well as removes the need for the base IOS to be on the root of the SD card.

Part 1 - Things you MUST KNOW before softmodding your vWii

WARNING: While every possible precaution is taken in giving the following instructions, there is inherently a small chance (as there is with software modification of any console, phone, etc.) that you could brick. Accept this fact or stop now. You have been warned.
- The following instructions are for modifying the Wii Mode on the Wii U console in order to play backup Wii games from SD card, USB stick, or an external HDD. This guide IS NOT compatible with the regular Wii. If you are looking to modify your regular Wii, look HERE.
- The HDD used to hold your game backups MUST BE EXTERNALLY POWERED. (Meaning it has its own power supply that plugs into an outlet) The Wii U does not supply enough power to completely run an external HDD.
- Some users have reported that a Y USB cable will work in powering an external drive - it may or may not work for you depending on the power requirements of your drive. Each USB port only provides 500mA.
- After this mod, if you leave your HDD plugged into the Wii U console, it will prompt you to format the drive every time you power on your Wii U. ALWAYS select Cancel, otherwise you will delete all of your backed up Wii games! - WARNING, this happened to me! A had a trigger happy 5 year old restart the Wii U to play a regular Wii U game and before I could stop her, POOF, all my ripped games were gone. Part 6 of this guide has been added to include a way to prevent this from happening

This guide will install the following to your vWii:
- The Homebrew Channel v1.1.2
- cIOS249[56] d2xv10 b53alt
- cIOS250[57] d2xv10 b53alt
- cIOS251[58] d2xv10 b53alt
All usb loaders and apps will be read directly from the SD card (for reasons that are explained in the Final Important Notes spoiler of this guide)

Part 3 - Installing the Homebrew Channel

NOTE: Korean Wii U consoles can only use the Super Smash Bros Brawl hack. All other regions can use any of the below hacks.

- Format your SD card to FAT32
- Use one of the below games to launch the Hackmii Installer:Lego Indiana Jones

-Download Hackmii_1.1.2_IP.zip, Extract directly to sd:\ -Play Lego Indiana Jones Original. Start a new game, then exit to System Menu.
-Go to wii settings, data management, save games, wii, SD
-Click SD, copy Indiana PWNS for your region-Play Lego Indiana Jones original, load save game slot 1
- When the game loads, you will be in Barnett College. Walk to the Art Room (through
the Courtyard), approach the left character on the podium. When it zooms on him, choose the switch
to option (two silhouettes, staggered, with an arrow pointing between them).

-Hackmii Installer LoadsIndiana PWNS Video

Super Smash Bros Brawl

Smash Stack -Requires "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" for your region
-download Smash Stack_Hackmii_1.1.2.zip ----
-extract to sd:\-Load SSBB , with sd-card removed, make a save file if asked
-Go to the stage builder, delete all custom stages found, exit the stage builder
-Exit all the way back to the main SSBB menu
-Insert SD-CARD, Go back to the stage builder-HackMii Installer loadsSmash Stack Video

Lego Star Wars

-Requires 1-2g SD card
-Requires Lego Star Wars game
-Play the game once
-Return of Jodi- Download hackmii-1.1.2_return-jodi.zip
-Extract directly to sd:\
-Go to wii data managment, savegames
-Delete your lego starwars save file
-Copy the hacked save file for your region from your sd card to your wii
-Start up the game, load the first save slot (on the left, at 0.0%)
-As soon as the level loads, run to the right and you'll see two characters floating. Run to the area in
front of them and you'll see "Return of Jodi" show up, press the "A" button on your Wiimote and your boot.elf
will run
-Hackmii Installer loads

Lego Batman

-Requires 1-2g SD card
-Requires Lego Batman game
-Play the game once
-Download hackmii-1.1.2_bathaxx.zip
-Extract directly to sd:\
-Go to wii data managment, savegames
-Delete your lego Batman save file.
-Copy the hacked save file for your region from your sd card to your wii
-Boot LEGO Batman and load the savegame you just copied. You are now in the batcave, take the elevator on
the right side. Then in the trophy room, go to the upper corner and go through the door in order to enter the
"Wayne Manor". Now you can select a character. Choose the last enabled one in the lowest row
-Hackmii Installer Loads

Tales of Symphonia

-Play "Tales of Symphonia: Dawn ofthe New World" (RT4EAF).
-Make a savegame
-Download Hackmii-1.1.2-Eri HaKawai.zip
-Extract directly to sd:\
-Go to wii settings -> data managment -> savegames -> wii
-Delete your Tales of Symphonia savegame
-Go to the sd card savegames ->Copy your exploit savegame to the wii. Then start the game, and load the save data.
-Once the game starts ( and you see a dog waving at you ), press PLUS to enter the game's menu.
-Scroll down to "Status" and press A.
-Then scroll down to the second character (named "Giantpune"). Highlite him, and press A.
-Hopefully everything works out like it should and the boot.elf is loaded from your SD card.
-Hackmii installer should load

- The Hackmii Installer is now loading. Be patient, give it a minute or two. Eventually "Press 1 to Continue" will appear.When it does, press 1.
- Press A to Continue
- Press A to install the Homebrew Channel, Homebrew Channel Installs
- Exit the Hackmii Installer
- Congrats! You have now installed the Homebrew Channel onto your vWII!

Note regarding the 4:3 aspect ratio when launching The Homebrew Channel - The reason for this happening is explained by tueidj below:

Originally Posted by tueidj
The aspect ratio issue is caused by Nintendo actually figuring out how their hardware works and forcing 4:3 letterboxing for certain VC platforms when a widescreen mode is being used, and HBC's title ID starting with "L" (same as Master System VC). It's a one line fix to re-enable fullscreen mode, but there's a lot of other voodoo and magical incantations that need to be done for a HBC release.

Tueidj has released a workaround app that you can download directly from his website here: aspect_fix. After completion of this guide, download the aforementioned app and extract it directly to the sd:/apps folder. Launch the Homebrew Channel, then launch the aspect fix app. Your HBC will now run in 16:9 aspect ratio. Please note that this will need to be done each time you start Wii mode and launch the HBC, at least until a new version of the HBC is released.

Part 4 - Backing up your vWii NAND and Keys

Even though there is not yet a way to completely restore a vWii NAND, having a backup of your NAND is very important. Its also very useful if you decide to use an EmuNAND in the future.

- Download Dump Mii NAND from HERE and extract directly to your SD card.
- Insert SD into Wii U, launch the Homebrew Channel, then Launch Dump Mii NAND
- Your NAND and Keys will be written to your SD card. This may take awhile depending on the speed of your card. Upon completion your Wii U will reboot.

Per joostinonline please read: Originally Posted by JoostinOnline
If you don't care about the explanation, just skip to the last paragraph. Otherwise, read on:

Awhile back, it was discovered that Wii U updates would fail if you had a patched vIOS on your vWii in any of the used slots (so it's okay to use slots 200+). The update would be downloaded, but would fail to install. How it determines a non-vanilla IOS is unknown at the moment; it could be an md5/sha1 check, or maybe it simply checks if the ticket to see if it is fakesigned. Either way, it's a problem. Making a NAND backup is a must, and it is helpful in some ways. But not in this one.

When you create a wad from a NAND dump (usually with ShowMiiWads, but there are other programs as well), it's fakesigned (thanks to Cyan for pointing that out to me earlier). This wouldn't be an issue on a Wii, but the Wii U is picky. The HackMii installer is too, and refuses to use any IOS that is fakesigned.

If you want truly clean wads, you need to dump them directly from your console. You can do this with Yet Another BlueDump Mod. Go to System Titles and dump each IOS individually to a wad. When prompted to fakesign the ticket or TMD, say No to both. It's a tedious process, but it could save a lot of trouble in the future.

This guide does not patch any vWii IOS below 200. Other guides from other sites may. If at any point in the future you want to monkey around with vWii IOS below 200, the above could apply to you - so follow his instructions. Bad idea to mess with IOS below 200 - you could brick your vWii or worse.... I wont do it and neither should you. All that being said, what you do to your hardware is your own business, so you may want to take the extra precautions written above.

- After completion of the above, make a complete backup up of the contents of your SD card somewhere on your computer. Keep it safe, dont delete it. You never know when you might need it. After backing up your SD card to your PC, delete everything off of your card and proceed to Part 5.

Part 5 - Installing cIOS

- Download Modpack-vWii-v1.1 and extract directly to your SD card.
- Insert your SD card into your Wii U
- Launch the Homebrew Channel
- Select IOS236 Installer v8 MOD and press A to Load
- Press A to continue, IOS236 Installs
- Press any button to exit
- You should now be back in the Homebrew Channel
- Select d2x cIOS Installer and press A to load
- At the top of the screen you will see the word Welcome highlighted in green. Press any button to continue
- At the top of the screen you will see the words Working IOS highlighted in green. Press A to continue
- At the top of the screen you will see the words CIOS Settings highlighted in green.
- You will see a > next to Select cIOS. Press the right dpad to change this setting to d2x-v10-beta53-alt-vWii
- Press down and Select cIOS base should say 56
- Press down again and Select cIOS slot should say 249
- Press A to install, cIOS 249 installs
- Press A to continue
- Now you are back at the CIOS SETTINGS screen again. This time press down to go to Select cIOS base, and press right to change the base to 57
- Press down and then right again to change the cIOS slot to 250
- Press A to install, cIOS 250 installs
- Back at the CIOS SETTINGS screen again. Press down to go to Select cIOS base, and press right to change the base to 58
- Press down and then right again to change the cIOS slot to 251
- Press A to install, cIOS 251 installs.
- Press B to exit.

Congrats! You have now installed all cIOS needed! Proceed to part 6.

Part 6 - Installing your Apps

- Format your SD card again to FAT32
- Download vWii App Pack v2.zip and extract directly to your SD Card.- Download the Aspect Fix app mentioned in Part 3 of this guide (extract to SD:/apps/) - aspect_fix- In this app pack we have included the following usb loaders:
----WiiFlow MM v1076
----USB Loader GX r1256
----CFG 70MOD r78
- Make sure your external HDD is plugged in to your Wii U and turned on. (Use the usb port closest to the middle on the rear of the console)
- Insert your SD card into your Wii U and launch the Homebrew Channel in Wii Mode.
- Launch the Aspect Fix- Launch any one of the loaders from the Homebrew Channel

Weincluded all of these different loaders in hopes that you will find the one you like best, or best suits your needs. All have different interfaces and features. Which one is best is entirely up to personal preference.

When using an external HDD, the Wii U will prompt you to format the drive to Wii U's proprietary format every time your console is started/restarted. In many cases, a trigger happy kid or adult has quickly deleted everything on the HDD. Jayjay123 created a Windows app called Ustealth that prevents this from happening. It hides the partition by rewriting the boot signature of the drive, making the drive invisible to any app that does not support it (including Windows).

- Download Ustealth HERE and extract to your Desktop.
- Make sure your USB drive is plugged in and recognized by your computer
- Launch Ustealth and double-click your USB drive from the list (you may need to right-click and "Run as Administrator" depending upon your Windows security settings)
- Ustealth will ask if you are certain you want to hide the selected drive - click Yes - You will now see HIDDEN under the Status - you have successfully Hidden your drive!
- To make your drive visible to Windows again simply repeat the above process

*Note - This app writes to the boot sector of your drive - if this bothers you (as it did me for quite some time) don't do it. That being said, I have not had or heard of any negative issues resulting from the use of this app...still though, you have to make that choice on your own.

Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing black screens or game loading issues with a HDD that you have confirmed as working on a regular Wii, look HERE.

Final Important Notes

- DO NOT attempt to install wads or channels onto your vWii. Is it possible? Yes. So why don't we recommend it? READ BELOW.
- As of current moment there is absolutely ZERO BRICK PROTECTION!!! A bad wad file could brick you permanently! Play it safe!
- We will post back with anything new we find that we know works 100%. Until such time as brick protection is available, YOU THE END USER are the last line of defense against a brick. Once again, PLEASE play it safe and do not mess with any IOS/cIOS/wads etc!!!!
- DO NOT follow any guides meant for the Wii, and attempt to install stuff from them to the Wii U!!! Anything Wii U related will be in this section of the forum.

- The Staff here at WiiHacks has always taken pride in protecting it's members by providing guides that we know are safe. In the case of this guide, we have chosen NOT to have you install forwarder channels or any other channels. The reason behind this is simple: With no brick protection available, the less that is done the better. If you decide to do anything beyond this guide for aesthetic reasons, that is entirely your call. Dont blame us if something bad happens!!!

Credits

Mauifrog for the game exploit guides and vids, and the inspiration to help and protect the users of our guides.
TT for Hackmii
FIX94 for the IOS236 Installer
davebaol for d2x v10
jayjay123 for Ustealth
GBA Devs for DumpmiiNAND
And all the other coders out there who made all of this possible - Kudos to you guys!!!!

Warning: It is illegal to obtain/distribute backups of games you do not own. WiiHacks does not support or promote software piracy. Play fair.[/INDENT]

Hi quick question about the hard-drive requirements. Is it the same as the old WII where only certain hard drives will work or is any hard drive compatible?

Thats a good question. Only time will tell the full compatibility. D2x v10alt (which is included in this guide) = d2x v9 + support for vWii IOS bases. So if your HDD works with your regular Wii on v9 it should work with your vWii.

I will see about getting a vWii compatibility list going. Hopefully as time goes on the compatibility will increase as well.

EDIT: Sorry llaffer, I had this response window open for a long time before I hit submit lol. Didnt see you had already posted

1 User Says Thank You cjizzle For This Useful Post

d2x installer issue with vWii on Wii U !!

Your d2x installer seems to not work because none of the wii controllers work once it is loaded, they will not turn on and go black.. I had to revert to d2x 2.2 FIX 94 installer... Just thought you should know..

Your d2x installer seems to not work because none of the wii controllers work once it is loaded, they will not turn on and go black.. I had to revert to d2x 2.2 FIX 94 installer... Just thought you should know..

I am assuming you are using newer motion plus controllers?

Originally Posted by KoolerAidMan

Thank you so much for the excellent guide.

I understand that I need to use a 2GB or less SD card for installing onto the Wii U, but can I use a bigger SD card for the apps?

Also, will I be able to run my GameCube games off an SD card like I can with USB Loader on my Wii?